Is Nike about to enter padel?
El Remate #29 | What's hot in 🇺🇸 & 🌎 padel | April 28 - May 5, 2026
Bienvenidos a El Remate! I’m Aris, a padel-obsessed Missourian who spent the last two years living in Argentina and Spain to deeply understand the sport’s strategy, culture, and business. I’ve played and competed across 3 continents and 12 countries, and recently started documenting my journey on Instagram.
Each week, I curate what matters in padel: new US club openings, technique tips, my takes on international headlines and pro drama, plus insider knowledge from the global circuit. Subscribe for weekly updates! 📧
🔍 Topics we’ll cover this weekLeo Augsburger won a Premier Padel title in Belgium, then drove to a local club in Argentina to play a weekend tournament with his childhood friend.
Meanwhile, Tom Holland is hosting celebrity padel events in LA, Nike might be quietly circling the sport, and an Argentine soccer legend has apparently reinvented himself as a Miami padel sage.
Also in this issue:
— Get your serve up to speed
— Massive moves for women’s padel
— Draft day, feat. a franchise relocation
— The pro tour goes to South America
— A potential #2 US padel hub emerges, using “the Miami playbook”
…and plenty more. Seguimos!
🇺🇸 Club OpeningsComing Soon
🏄♂️ West Coast Eye Candy
What started as a side hustle is now turning into a calculated bet on becoming 🇺🇸’s #2 padel hub (watch out, Houston!). Vortex Padel is bringing 4 outdoor courts (amid a scenic backdrop), a pro shop, lounge, and a community-first atmosphere to Orange County (California). The aim is to expand to 2-3 additional clubs across OC and “follow the Miami playbook,” keeping players consistently within the Vortex ecosystem. Target opening is late 2026.
📈 Up Your Game 
Purify Your Serve
Unlike tennis, your serve in padel is a setup. However, most rec players completely misunderstand that. And our friend Sandy from The Padel School does a fantastic job breaking it down in this oldie-but-goodie five-minute video.
The much-less-sexy (but necessary) fix is to simply prioritize control. How so, you ask?
Spin: Please, no heavy spin. Instead, use just enough slice. Think brushing slightly down the back of the ball to keep it low after the bounce and off the glass. Overdo it, and you lose control and make the rebound easier to read.
Speed: Your serve should only be as fast as you can control. If adding pace kills your accuracy, you’re being reckless rather than aggressive.
Placement > Power: There are two high-percentage targets that actually matter:
Into the side glass (early) → forces awkward timing and low contact
Down the T with slice → stretches your opponent and jams their positioning
First vs. Second Serve: Yes, you have two serves… but that’s not a license to swing out of your shoes on the first and “just get it in” on the second. Your goal should be to build a serve where both deliveries are reliable and intentional.
At the end of the day, your serve is about forcing an uncomfortable first shot so you and your partner can control the point from the start. Suerte!
🌍 International Happenings The Pro Scene is Reshaping Itself
The Pro Padel League had a busy week heading into its third full season. The North American association held its first-ever auction-style player draft in midtown Manhattan, with all ten ownership groups in attendance alongside league CEO Mike Dorfman. The draft wasn’t streamed live (and instead relied on social media coverage), but Dorfman hinted that a live broadcast product is the direction they’re heading.
Meanwhile, the Matrix franchise is relocating from Arkansas to Washington, D.C. ahead of this 2026 season. The women-led ownership group cited D.C.’s international makeup as a key draw, with franchise founder Barbara Hudson pointing to the city’s global profile as a natural fit for a global sport. The PPL’s 2026 season opens in New York in July.
And finally, the pro game seems to be getting serious about female players (more on this here, per my firsthand experience at the Miami P1 in March):
World No. 1 Delfi Brea signed with LA-based WME Sports, one of the world’s most powerful sports agencies, which already has an established padel division and leverages its tennis infrastructure through IMG. The 26-year-old Argentine has accumulated 25 professional titles, including Premier Padel Major wins in Paris, Italy, and Qatar, and is currently running a 19-4 record with partner Gemma Triay in 2026.
Also, the Reserve Cup (known for its exclusivity, spectacle, and massive prize pool) is finally opening the door to women’s padel, with the Marbella edition in June set to include female matches for the first time. Confirmed participants include Bea González, Delfi Brea, Alejandra Salazar, and Marta Ortega.
🏆 Pro Padel RoundupPregamin’ the Asunción P2 (🇵🇾)
Fresh off Brussels, the Premier Padel Tour is hopping continents for a back-to-back run, starting this week with the Asunción P2 and ending with the Buenos Aires P1 next week.
Ojo! Landmines are now everywhere in the men’s draw. “Loose cannons” Juan Lebrón / Leo Augsburger are freshly coming off their first title together from Brussels, so it’s up to the rest of the draw to keep their egos in check… Keep an eye on 17-year-old Paraguayan wildcard Facundo Dehnike, who could run straight into Franco Stupaczuk / Mike Yanguas. Meanwhile, “golden boys” Coello / Tapia are lurking for a bounce-back post-Brussels.
In the women’s draw, Paula Josemaría and Bea González are coming off a three-tournament heater. While the top 8 get a bye, they shouldn’t get comfortable. Josemaría / González could open against tricky duos like Castelló / Rufo, so watch for that.
You can tune into the tournament live here.
Meanwhile Off-Court…
Fresh off winning the Brussels P2, Leo Augsburger answered a call from a childhood friend and spent his week off playing in a local tournament in Posadas, Argentina… which they won, of course (lmao).
🎯 Quick Hits A-List actor Tom Holland hosted a celebrity padel tournament in Los Angeles for his non-alcoholic beer brand, BERO (🇺🇸)
Is Nike finally getting into padel? Leo Augsburger won the Brussels P2 wearing hard-court Nike tennis shoes, despite inking a landmark racket contract with Siux two weeks ago. This’ll be worth watching... (🇺🇸)
Following his retirement, Argentine soccer star Gonzalo Higuaín has quietly become a padel regular and “mental coach” in Miami (🇦🇷🇺🇸)
Pro padel celebrity lookalikes 😂
Community musings:
Seems like it’s a clear consensus that you unconsciously adapt your level to your opponents…
How can you stay mentally strong when you feel like the weakest player?
Contrarily, when your partner melts down and your opponents smell blood, what should you do?
🤩 Cool Club of the Week 📍 Punta del Este, 🇺🇾
More info here!
Missed a recent issue? Todo tranca che ;) we got you covered:
📌 Hot take editorials:
Thanks for reading! My promise: I’ll keep the newsletters coming, you share with a friend if you’re enjoying. Está bien? Forward to a friend.
For more on-the-ground 🌎 padel content from a 🇺🇸 POV, follow @padelyanqui on Instagram! 🤝 And if you have any feedback or news to share, just respond to this email :)
See you next week & keep smashing those volleys 🎾
Great stuff. Keep it coming.